Cop goes extra mile to extort money

In a classic case of misuse of power, a Delhi Police constable — posted at east Delhi’s New Ashok Nagar police station — would travel more than 15 km on his motorcycle daily to target couples at a park in Chanakyapuri and extort money from them.

In a classic case of misuse of power, a Delhi Police constable — posted at east Delhi’s New Ashok Nagar police station — would travel more than 15 km on his motorcycle daily to target couples at a park in Chanakyapuri and extort money from them.

Several couples were victimised in the past and many others would have fallen prey to his tactic had a manager of a five star hotel not taken the courage to report the constable’s illegal act to the local Chanakyapuri police station.

Acknowledging the gravity of the matter and an attempt to save the reputation of their department, the local police acted swiftly on the complaint and arrested the constable, identified as Valeem Javed, after a half-a-kilometre chase.

He was arrested on September 6 while allegedly trying to extort money from another man in Nehru Park.

According to a senior police officer, Javed, a resident of Brijpuri, was arrested following action taken into the complaint lodged by a hotel manager. The complainant was waiting for a friend at Nehru Park parking on Niti Marg when Javed approached him and told him that his presence in the area was suspicious.

“When the complainant took out his purse to show his I-Card, Javed snatched the purse and threatened to implicate him in a false case before taking out Rs 2,000 from it,” said the senior officer.

He added that a case of extortion was registered following the complaint after which a sub inspector went to the spot and asked two other constables on duty about the incident.

They asked some couples present in the park to help them in the investigation. The policemen soon spotted a man in uniform at a temple behind the park. On seeing the constables, the man tried to flee from the spot. He was, however, overpowered and arrested.

Javed’s antecedents are being verified to ascertain whether he has been involved in similar activities in the past.

According to Delhi Police statistics, around 50 Delhi Police personnel were caught taking bribes this year. A total of 1,849 policemen, including 147 inspectors, faced action for dereliction of duty till June 30 this year.